


Happiness, Let's Dream

by gaywrongs



Category: IU (Musician), Red Velvet (K-pop Band), 소녀시대 | Girls' Generation | SNSD
Genre: F/F, instead we learn a lesson, iu owns a magic shop and irene goes to her to ask for help for her makeshift family aka red velvet, putting my favs on ao3 now even tho sone and reveluv are dead too rip, suzy is mentioned and jessica is dead
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-30
Updated: 2019-03-30
Packaged: 2019-12-27 00:46:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,974
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18293459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gaywrongs/pseuds/gaywrongs
Summary: Some dreams aren't meant to come true.Or,IU owns a magic shop. Joohyun wants her family to be happy.





	Happiness, Let's Dream

**Author's Note:**

> this was from my aff account like a billion years ago! remember when I was creative? me either. shout out to the kind person who asked to translate this and post it on their blog for others to read bc that's honestly the best thing that's ever happened to me as a second-rate writer

"Excuse me?"

I ignored the timid voice and concentrated on my sketch. If I didn't do the outline correctly, my newest brew would be for naught, and I had spent a good week collecting the fickle ingredients for it. Animating from scratch is quite bothersome.

Then again, life had always been as such. Why should an imitation be any different?

"I... I've heard that you do Dream Magic?"

I paused in my sketch and glanced up. Standing in front of the counter was a gangly adolescent dressed in a simple brown tunic with a tattered satchel slung over her shoulder. Probably a village girl taking up a dare of the other kids. Those were the only people who visited anymore, besides the broken ones.

"You've heard wrong." I returned my bit of charcoal to the paper and carefully thickened a line. I made a bet in my head with the werewolf pelt on the mantle. Wings says she'll apologize and leave now.

"The one named... Suji? She said I could find help from you."

Dammit. I cursed Suzy, glared at the werewolf pelt, and began adding wings to my sketch. This one was going to be a pesk, I could already tell. Give any creature that doesn't need it the ability to fly, and they will never settle again.

"It is not the kind of help that you want," I warned drearily after letting the girl fidget in silence for a time.

"But you do indeed do Dream Magic?" The girl's tone interested me. It wasn't quite hopeful, or challenging. It was... restrained. Held back in such a way that I could not decipher what emotion it was masking. So she wasn't a village kid. But her tone said she was not broken.

Interesting.

"Not anymore," I acquiesced, wondering if she would push further. Curse that Suzy for capitalizing on my curiosity. There should really be an official code of conduct for Magic Users. She knows very well that I do not delve in Dream Magic anymore. She is the only other person who knows why.

"Could you possibly make an exception, just once?" The girl fumbled with her worn satchel. "I have money."

I finished the curve of my project's left paw, and set to work on the other. "What's your name?"

"Bae Joohyun, ma'am."

"First thing, Joohyun: you may call me IU. None of this "ma'am" business. I am twenty-three." I paused. "Well, I look twenty-three. Actually I've probably looked like this for decades. I should change it up. For the next century I'll be a girolf to scare off any solicitors."

She didn't react, and I found myself growing increasingly curious about her.

"And secondly, Bae Joohyun, whatever would you need Dream Magic for?" I finished the second paw, and my sketch was complete. I reached underneath my counter for the crushed bone powder.

"For the happiness of my sisters."

My hand paused around the bone powder jar. Interesting, Bae Joohyun, interesting.

"And of myself," She admitted, fingering a tear in the flap of her satchel.

"Where do you hail from, Joohyun?" I set the jar delicately on the counter and popped up the lid. I restrained myself from making another bet with the werewolf pelt, because I could not afford to meddle with the sealing process just yet. Locketown, I guessed. Or maybe she's the heiress of a wealthy family in disguise, suffocating alongside her sisters in a lack of freedom, and seeking out Dream Magic out of boredom.

"The village just over yonder, but before that, the orphanage in Dukdae."

"You and your sisters managed to stay together?"

"We weren't exactly taken in by someone. And we're not exactly sisters. But they are that and more to me, even if not through bloodlines."

Oh.

Oh.

The massacre at Dukdae. I knew this girl, at least through my Sight Magic. The massacre had happened almost a decade ago, with a rival country's barbaric soldiers leaving no woman untainted and no man alive. I was restricted from interfering, so I could only watch from across the country in the blurs of my Sight Magic as homes burned and children wailed in the streets. I looked on as a young child emerged from the wreckage of a home, carrying a baby in her arms, frantically looking past the corpses of her community for any other soul that had survived.

That was Bae Joohyun.

"Who are your sisters?" I asked. I needed to know the names of the people who had such a hold on her heart. My stomach twisted as I realized this was becoming something of a dejavu moment. What was Suzy playing at, sending me this girl?

"Kang Seulgi, Son Seunghwan, Park Sooyoung, and Kim Yerim." A pause. "They mean everything to me."

I sprinkled the bone powder over my sketch and cursed silently yet again. So she was both a village girl and one of the broken ones. I willed my dislike to grow, but as always, my curiosity flooded all else out. "And how would Dream Magic bring happiness to your everything?"

"Our lives are very unhappy. We have just escaped from the orphanage, but we still do not have freedom from the pain. They... we have terrible memories in our sleep, so even in our dreams we cannot escape. I would wish that my sisters have some relief, sometimes."

I let her words stew. I carefully gave a puff of air, and the extra powder dissolved, leaving the faintly glowing seal over the sketch. Good enough. I got off my stool and walked the design carefully over to the workbench, where I clamped the edges of the paper down and began looking for the correct page in the spellbook that rested beside it. Animating was tricky, and I always needed a reminder on the correct procedure.

"I... I am willing to do whatever it takes to---"

"Do you know why I no longer do Dream Magic?" I interrupted. Aha. I laid a finger on the first page for Animating.

"...I do not. Suji only told me that---"

"Suji is the only other person---Magic User---who knows why, and I think she is playing games by sending you to me." I looked over my sketch as the memories trickled back to the forefront of my mind. "Because you are almost exactly the same as the girl from years ago."

Her name was Kim Taeyeon. My greatest regret.

I can still picture her wide-eyed expression as she first entered my shop. I used to live in a splendid cottage, with my living quarters on the top and my shop on the first two floors. I was a young Magic User, content with selling my wares so I could experiment with more Magic, and give a little delight or assistance to ordinary people's lives. Perhaps I went a bit overboard with my extravagant decorations. I watched amusedly from my stool behind the counter as this young woman took small steps forward, neck craning to take in all of the bizarre sights. The werewolf pelt had been on the mantle, same as now, but floating above it had been my collection of magma jewelry. Below that was a fireplace that boasted lively, multi-coloured, shape-shifting flames that now were forming into the shape of a greeting. The young woman gazed in awe, and maneuvered around my shelves of Magic items to stand in front of my counter.

"How can I help you?" I asked cheerfully.

"I've heard that you do Dream Magic?" Her voice was soft, yet it carried something else. You can learn a lot about a person just by hearing their voice. For instance, I immediately knew that this young woman liked blue skies, and that she loved deeply, and that she preferred warm milk over wine, but I could not tell exactly what else her voice carried. Voices revealed so much, but kept even more hidden. I loved voices.

"I do indeed. What kind of dreams are you looking for?" I conjured a catalogue with a snap of my fingers, and splayed it out on the counter. "I've got dreams of flying, being a dog, going on an adventure... the really interesting ones, if you're up for a trip, that are a dream within a dream within a dream..."

"I... I want... I want my nightmares to stop."

I froze as I heard her voice. There it was. Something hidden. Something concealed. A taste of it was exhaustion, and sleeplessness, and... heartbreak. I finally took a good long look at this young woman, and saw the rings under eyes that looked... carefully empty. I'd never encountered such a young person with this sort of look or voice before.

My curiosity skyrocketed. "How long have you been having nightmares for?"

"Ever since I can remember." That voice.

"And you are only just now seeking help?"

"They've only just started again because when... before..." Her voice trailed off, and I unknowingly glimpsed into her soul with my Sight Magic. It happens, sometimes, when someone leaves themselves completely vulnerable. What I found knocked the breath out of me. Brokenness. Broken sorrow, and shaky reparation where I imagined a golden light had once shone. And then it had all shattered once again.

Glimpses of a frightened little girl. Damage. Growth. Girl meets girl, cracks bleed love, nights of terror turned to calm with comforting warmth and a whisper. Heartbreak. Death. Soulbreak. Shatter.

"What is your name?"

"Kim Taeyeon." My greatest regret.

"What was her name?" The gentlest voice I could muster, and Kim Taeyeon knew I had seen, and she let herself be left vulnerable in front of a strange Magic User with a light blue fireplace.

"Jung Sooyeon." A pause. A flicker of the soul. "She means everything to me."

"Your nightmares stopped with her?"

"And now they feature her." Another flicker. "Sleep is my enemy, for in it, I see everything I never wanted and never will want, and her. She is there, in my dreams, suffering. And I cannot save her."

"I am deeply sorry for your loss."

"She is my happiness. She saved me. I could not save her."

"And what is it that you want?"

Kim Taeyeon locked eyes with me. My Sight Magic fell. "My happiness."

I considered long and hard, the dream catalogue already vanished. I thought to my latest experiments with Dream Magic. I thought about how my shop was meant for the good of people. I could help Kim Taeyeon.

And so I spoke the words of my greatest regret. "I can give you happiness. I can alter your dreams so she does not suffer." I was too young to realize that sometimes, some things are too broken to fix, and that I had no right or ability to sell happiness.

But I thought I could. As I mixed the right ingredients dramatically and bottled the liquid in a flask for her, I truly believed I could help. And she returned to her village that evening, Magic in her satchel, believing in my words.

She returned two weeks later with an empty flask and a new glimmer in her eyes. "Thank you for this blessing. It is more than I could hope for." I couldn't see into her soul this time, but I happily made her another flask, believing my work to be successful.

The werewolf pelt seemed to glower at me. I glowered back once Kim Taeyeon left. "What? You're just jealous that I'm doing right."

She returned two weeks later, and I brushed off the fact that I had made the flask dosage last for a month. I probably forgot. Instead, I asked her, "Are you getting your happiness?"

"Yes," said she. I furrowed my brow at the change in her voice. A change I could not identify. "We are happy in my dreams."

I was too blinded by pride in my work to see that Kim Taeyeon was becoming addicted to her dreams, and that the new glimmer in her eye was not the healthy shine of someone getting enough sleep, but the glaze of creeping insanity.

Two flasks later, and merely two weeks, and suddenly Kim Taeyeon stopped visiting. I began to worry, and the werewolf pelt seemed to taunt me. Each time I sensed a person coming up the path to my shop, I would clumsily use my Sight Magic as fast as I could to sense the broken soul that I thought I was helping to mend. But none of my customers were broken, just curious.

Until my Sight Magic collided with the barricaded soul of another young woman. The defense was so boiling and sharp that I pulled back as if I had been stung, and anxiously watched the front door for this woman's entrance. She entered and did not look around, instead marching straight up to the counter.

"Are you the one who sold Kim Taeyeon Dream Magic?" Her voice was hoarse and thick. Mourning and a million other things locked away behind the barricade of her soul.

"Yes. She hasn't returned in a while. Have her nightmares stopped?"

"You've killed her."

The werewolf pelt was silent, and the fire was a normal fire.

"She became obsessed with dreaming. Obsessed with seeing Sooyeon. She refused to let go, and became even more depressed with each waking hour." The woman stared at me with hard eyes, and I felt her anger overtake me. "Last week, she went to sleep early, and never woke up."

I could not speak. She let me sit, frozen.

"I just wanted to let you know that you have killed my best friend." She turned and walked to the door.

"What is your name?" I choked out. That was all I could say. My curiosity reared its ugly head, and I hated myself for it. I needed to know the name of this person whose soul was locked tight. Because of me.

"Miyoung. My name is Miyoung, and I will never forgive you."

Miyoung. I will never forget you.

She left my shop, and I soon left that part of the country. It took me years and the efforts of Suzy for me to live with myself, much less use Magic again. And even so, I will never use Dream Magic. I do not sell dreams, and I cannot sell happiness.

"But wasn't she happy in the end?"

I blinked up at Bae Joohyun, who had stayed silent for the entire story.

"She got her happiness. She got to be with Sooyeon forever. Her soul could not be fixed, but wouldn't you say she was happy?"

"She died, Bae Joohyun." I held Grinhelf flames over my sketch. "Do you want to be happy?"

Out of the corner of my eye, I watched as she looked down. Thought. Looked back up with determination set in her jaw. "I want my sisters to be happy."

"And that is where you and Kim Taeyeon differ," I breathed out in relief. "She dreamed of Sooyeon for herself. You, Bae Joohyun, are living for your sisters."

"But how can I say I am living for them if I cannot make them happy?"

"Kim Taeyeon was deluded into happiness. Your happiness is here, in reality, with your sisters. Remember that and hold each other until the memories pass. Your reality is each other, no matter what dreams might persuade." I waited five seconds, and then snapped sharply over the sketch. Immediately, the tiny creature melted off of the paper and sprang to life. Rather, an imitation of life. No Magic, even animating, can create real life.

It spread its feathery wings and flapped them once, twice, experimentally. It shuffled across my workbench curiously, sniffing everything it came across. My animatings always had an abundance of curiosity, because they reflect the maker and the maker's intentions for it.

Wait.

What had my intentions been for it as I was telling Bae Joohyun my story?

The creature, mostly resembling a dog, suddenly quadrupled in size and tumbled off of the workbench onto the counter. Upside-down, it peered up at Joohyun, who nervously took a step back. It rolled to stand and began sniffing the girl, and then leapt down from the counter to circle her legs excitedly.

To help Bae Joohyun and her sisters had been my intention.

"Are you alright?" I had to ask, amused at the frightened look on Joohyun's face.

"I don't much like dogs," She said in a small voice.

"Well it's not exactly a dog." I bit back a laugh as it curled up contentedly around the girl's feet, and the girl threw me a helpless look. "It's got wings, see."

"My sisters like dogs," Joohyun murmured.

"Good, because this one has been made to protect you and your sisters from the night. And I doubt it's letting go of you any time soon."

The creature sprang up and shrank a fraction so that its head could perfectly nuzzle under Joohyun's hand. She looked petrified, but hesitantly patted its head anyway. It rumbled with contentment.

"I cannot provide you with Dream Magic," I said softly. "But if you and your sisters need a safe home, and perhaps a less dog-like companion, you are always welcome here."

She looked from the animating to me, and slowly nodded. "Thank you, IU."

"And don't even think about payment," I scolded. The winged animating shrank and shakily flew up into Joohyun's satchel, where it popped its head up beneath the flap and panted happily.

"I... thank you."

"Your soul is holding up, Joohyun."

She nodded once, and left, with the animating hanging goofily out of her satchel.

I looked absentmindedly to the werewolf pelt on the mantle. I'll bet a thank you letter to Suzy that I won't enjoy their company, I silently challenged.

We both knew I'd lose.


End file.
